The Dallas Cowboys are mouthing the words that make it seem like the door is open to an NFL free agency pursuit of Richard Sherman.
But the truth: What Dallas is actually doing speaks so loudly that it drowns out anything they are saying.
“Well, the one thing we talk about all the time, we’re always looking, we’re always looking to upgrade and to add,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said on The Chris Collinsworth Podcast when asked specifically about Sherman. “There’s no question there, but …”
Ah. You just knew there’d be a “but” …
“But,” McCarthy continued,
“the salary cap, what’s in front of us, too is something that we’re very focused on, too. The 11 draft picks was by design. … to be able to have 11 selections this year was very important just in the big picture and the long-term planning for our roster development.
“So, we’re always looking, but I definitely love the competition that we have on the backend. It’ll be fun to see how this all sorts out.”
It would’ve been easier to just say “no.”
Sherman and new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn are close.
If the five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Sherman really was near some “open door,” movement in that “Legion of Boom” reunion direction would’ve already occurred.
McCarthy’s remarks are about cornerback starter Trevon Diggs (coming off his rookie season) and then wide-open competition elsewhere with Cowboys vets Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis working to hold off rookies like Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright.
While everything could change with just one training camp injury, Sherman, by the way, seems to understand what McCarthy is so subtlety saying.
“You know, at 33, it doesn’t matter what you put on tape,” Sherman explained in an April interview with ESPN. “It’s like, ‘Father Time is undefeated, we’re going to go with the young guy.”
That, indeed, is exactly what it’s like.
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